The world still needs the WTO - and it's being reformed for the age of AI

Despite ongoing challenges to global cooperation, there is a reality in global trade which every CEO will agree upon: global commerce still needs a credible multilateral anchor.

Over the past decade, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has faced challenges in policy discussions, with some perceiving it as struggling to adapt to modern trade dynamics and instead being overtaken by bilateral deals and hamstrung by geopolitics. They believe its role has diminished in an economy largely driven by data, artificial intelligence (AI) and digital services.

But the reality could not be more different. According to the WTO, about 72% of global goods trade still takes place under its default tariff rules.

Customs procedures, transparency standards and market-access guarantees all derive from this architecture. Without it, we risk deepening fragmentation and commercial outcomes dictated by geopolitics.

The WTO is quietly undergoing the most significant transformation in its 30-year history. The regulatory frameworks emerging from this reform will determine competitive advantage, market access and regulatory risk for every globally exposed business.

There are three structural forces that are informing the WTO reform agenda:

AI is redefining manufacturing, finance, logistics and professional services. According to the WTO's World Trade Report 2025, AI could lift global exports by up to 40% above trend by 2040.

WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala simultaneously cautions: “Access to AI technologies and the capacity to participate in digital trade remain highly uneven.”

The hope is that the WTO’s efforts to establish interoperable standards for data flows, algorithmic transparency and liability will lead to a unified regulatory framework rather than having to navigate 164 separate regimes, each with different standards.

The differences in compliance costs, time-to-market and legal exposure are measured in the billions.

Cloud service providers, fintech platforms and AI-driven logistics firms are already navigating conflicting data localization requirements across jurisdictions – a problem that harmonized WTO rules could resolve.

The WTO's emerging AI framework would determine whether cloud infrastructure investments are economically viable, whether cross-border data flows remain predictable and whether smaller competitors can access the same digital tools as incumbents.

Small and medium-sized enterprises represent 90% of global firms, yet they remain underrepresented in international trade, accounting for only 34% of global exports despite their numerical dominance.

Simplified documentation, digitized processes and reduced compliance costs could integrate millions into global value chains – driving competitiveness and resilience across industries and economies.

The WTO's reform agenda explicitly prioritizes digital trade facilitation, reducing customs timelines from weeks to hours. It focuses on simplified regulatory compliance to make exports economically viable for smaller players; transparent access to global value chains; and support for women- and youth-led enterprises.

For large multinationals, this means access to more agile, specialized suppliers and new partnership opportunities. For SMEs, it means reduced barriers to competing globally. Either way, the competitive landscape is shifting and companies that anticipate it gain a first-mover advantage.

Amid headlines about "friend-shoring," reshoring and supply chain nationalism, a fundamental economic truth persists: no major economy has achieved sustained growth through protectionism.

Dr Okonjo-Iweala made this case forcefully at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2024 in Davos, Switzerland: "We need to think of globalization differently... The reason [is] because poor people in rich countries were left out and poor countries or developing countries were at the margin. In the new paradigm, we don’t want to repeat the same story.”

The WTO's modernization will:

The institution's dispute settlement system – currently paralyzed – once provided a neutral forum for resolving trade conflicts. Without it, subsidies proliferate unchecked, market access barriers persist and commercial outcomes increasingly hinge on political leverage rather than legal merit.

Structural and political challenges persist. Consensus-based decision-making can entrench gridlock. Large economies continue to adopt unilateral tariffs and industrial policies.

New areas – including AI governance, data protection and sustainability – require complex rulemaking. Subsidies are expanding across sectors, complicating any effort to maintain a level playing field.

Yet the institution's imperfections do not reduce its importance. A fractured world cannot manage AI standards, climate-linked trade measures, cross-border digital services or supply-chain shocks through bilateral deals alone. These issues require multilateral governance.

Jens Lund, CEO of DSV, the world's largest freight forwarding company, noted in October 2025: "In a world of geopolitical turbulence, trade tensions and climate disruptions, supply chains thrive not by avoiding trouble but by anticipating it."

In this regard, business leaders should treat WTO reform as a strategic issue:

Firms that participate in rulemaking will benefit from foresight and stability. Those that ignore multilateral processes will face rising compliance costs and strategic uncertainty.

The WTO is imperfect but it remains essential in anchoring a global economy shaped by AI, digital services and geopolitical rivalry. The question is not whether the WTO is obsolete. It is whether the world can afford a future without it.